There's Time to Talk
by liztits
Summary: Miranda visits Shepard while she's in hospital following the end of the Reaper War. Mentions of Jack/Miranda, FemShep/Liara. 4th in verse, filler fluff.


**Drabble-y crap that I wrote when I couldn't sleep.  
****Part of my still yet as unnamed verse that I'm just gonna call "the liztits au" for now. :')  
****You can find the rest of them on my profile! :D  
**

* * *

"If someone would've told me I'd be looking at Miranda Lawson in an Alliance uniform, I'd have called them a liar, but hell, look at you." Shepard grins from her bed.  
Miranda returns the smile, sauntering over to Shepard's bed and sitting down in the chair. "Someone has to keep everyone in check while you're lazing around." She jokes, leaning back into the chair. "God, I feel like I haven't sat down in weeks."

"I feel like I haven't stood up in weeks." Shepard replies, picking at the blanket covering her legs.  
"You broke your leg in 4 places, you're hardly going to be running marathons any time soon." She pauses, watching Shepard's face. "Chakwas said you're starting physio next week? That's good news, moving forward."

"Yeah, I guess," Shepard sighs, shifting up on her pillows. "It's just hard, sitting here while everyone else is off doing things."  
"I know, it drove Jack insane and she was only here for a week." Miranda agrees, thinking back to how Jack tried to leave after a day, insisting that she was fine even though she was propping herself up with twisted piece of metal.  
"Where is Jack today?" Shepard asks, eyebrow raised.

"Working. The Alliance have set up a new academy just outside London while they figure out if they want another one out in space. They've got an influx of students, human and not. They've even had to set up a waiting list." The dark haired woman informs her.  
"I'm still confused." Shepard states blankly. "About you, and Jack." She clarifies under Miranda's confused stare. "I mean, how did that even happen? You hated each other!"  
"I never hated Jack, Commander." Miranda sighs, rubbing at the muscle of her calf. "She was just an unknown. I was wary."  
"I'm still waiting to hear how it happened. Also, stop calling me Commander. I'm not even a Commander anymore."

"My apologies, Captain Shepard." She grins at her companion, but quickly backtracks when met with an icy glare. "Alright, Amy, sorry!" She apologises before continuing. "It was just before we hit the Collectors station, on our way to the Omega-4 Relay. I was sat in my office, thinking, like everyone else was, I think.  
I'd come to terms with almost everything in my life. I thought I'd done good work, and that Oriana was safe from my father, and I'd made peace with the fact that I was probably going to die. But there was this thing, working its way through my brain. What I'd said to Jack, about being a mistake, I hadn't meant it, and I honestly felt bad. It'd been in the heat of the moment.  
I didn't want to die with one bad thing on my mind the entire time, so I went to apologise.  
I was terrified. Of what we were about to do, of Jack killing me when I tried to apologise before we even got to the Relay.  
The elevator ride down, all this feeling was welling up inside me, even more so when my foot hit the stairs to the hold.  
When I got down there, I couldn't even look at her. I just kept my eyes fixed on the floor as I spoke. I told her that I was sorry. That I hadn't meant what I'd said, that I didn't think she was a mistake. I could feel her gaze on me, and I knew she probably thought I was weak, for not looking at her, so I tore my gaze from those stupid boots I thought were okay to wear for battle, and looked her in the eye.  
Couldn't bring myself to put my guard up though, I was so tired, so drained, and I knew she could see everything I was feeling in my eyes. She looked at me oddly for a minute, and I really thought she was about to put me through a wall or at least say something horrible, but she kissed me. And I kissed her back.  
And the rest is history, I guess."

Shepard sat back in her bed, taking in Miranda's story. "So what now, for you and her?"  
"We're living together. It was easier to find one place instead of two that were close enough together. Liara helped us, actually, I'm surprised she didn't tell you."  
"She respects your privacy, not like me." Shepard grins. "She did say we'd have neighbours we knew though, I take it that's you?"  
"It is, although Traynor is living close by as well, and so is Joker. They're still repairing the Normandy, and he's not happy."  
"Definitely sounds like Joker, not happy unless he's behind the helm of a powerful ship." Shepard laughs.  
"What about you and Liara? Any plans for the future?"  
"Not the immediate future. I mean, I'm planning to have a fulfilling and long life with her, obviously, but we've got stuff to sort out first."  
"So, no little blue babies on the cards?" Miranda asks, smiling.  
"Not just yet, but I do want kids with her, yes. Although I've still not gotten used to the fact that I'll be the dad, it's not something they teach you in basic training." Shepard chuckles. "What about you, any plans for little Jacks and Mirandas?"

Miranda scoffs. "Can you really imagine a little Jack? That kid would be a nightmare!" She laughs. "I can't say I've ever thought about it. We've been at war for most of our relationship, not really had the time to plan for the future. Maybe? I do want kids, some day, but I can't have them, so she'd have to carry them, and I don't know if it's something she'd want. I don't have to have them, and if she didn't want them, I'd be content to live without them." She sighs.  
"Sorry Miranda, I didn't think…" Shepard starts, but Miranda cuts her off.  
"It's fine, I asked you first. I expect to be god mother to all your children, of course."  
"What's a 'god mother'?" Liara asks, pushing through the door with Jack behind her.  
"It's an earth thing. It means little these days, but they're basically extra aunts. Or uncles." Shepard explains.  
"Or they get the baby if you both die horribly." Jack adds, sitting down on the arm of Miranda's chair with a handful of Shepard's grapes. "Why do humans bring each other grapes in hospital? I would want cheeseburgers and steaks! So much steak." Jack trails off, listening to the grumbling of her tummy.  
"Hello to you too, Jack." Miranda huffs playfully.  
Jack places an arm around Miranda, pulling her a little bit closer and burying her face into her hair. "Hey." She says softly.  
"You've gone soft Jack!" Shepard laughs from her spot on the bed, shifting so Liara can sit next to her.  
"I'd still take you down any day, cripple." Jack fires back, flicking a biotic-charged grape at the new Captains head.

Later on, when Shepard is tired and they leave, Jack takes Miranda's hand as they walk through the lobby.  
"I heard, earlier. What you said to Shep." Jack murmurs softly, squeezing her girlfriends' hand.  
Miranda doesn't say anything, sniffing slightly and keeping her eyes on her feet as she walks.

"Hey." Jack stops, pulling on Miranda's hand. "Look at me." She demands, waiting to see the icy blue of her eyes before she continues. "We'll have kids, okay? Shit, we'll have 10 kids if that's what you want.  
Before you, I didn't even want to be around another human, but you changed that. And I was terrified of having kids, because of what those bastards did to me, but I guess you changed that too, and maybe the kids from the academy did too. But we'll have kids even if I have to be the oven they cook in, alright?"  
Miranda's eyes well up before she replies. "Thank you." She says softly before kissing Jack. "I love you so much." She whispers, resting her forehead against Jacks.  
"I love you too, now, let's get home, 'cause while we're not quite ready for kids yet, there's nothing wrong with practicing what makes them" Jack grins dirtily before pulling Miranda in the direction of the exit.


End file.
